Article from www.chicriders.com

[Str8 Jacket]

While I really enjoy riding my own bike I have to admit that the 2000k's I spent on the back of my mans bike over the Xmas hols did my riding the world of good! Maybe it was because I was practically a newbie rider at the time, I dont know...
When I got back on my own bike afterward I found that I was leaning the bike over more and just generally alot more comfortable riding all together. I guess that you need to trust the rider when your a pillion for such a long distance, otherwise it makes it very hard to relax and enjoy the trip.

Since then I have been on a trackday and my ridings getting better and better. Simply put, I love riding! I love the feeling you get when you get that corner just right and when you come over a hill and the view is breathtaking! I love the fact that you smell the ocean and the grass, though that damn silage (sp?) leaves alot to be disired! I love that most other bikers you meet are friendly and usually easy to get on with.
In wellington we have a great bunch of people, both guy's and gals that are all really awesome people that encourage riding whether your a male or female and I have never come up against "gender discrimination". It excites me to see more and more females out riding, I think that everyone should give it a go at least once in their lifetime!

[buellbabe]

hmmm sometimes I wonder if the bike does kinda rule my life but I seem to be able to balance it with my love of dogs as well... but as for my property, er well, its been awhile since it got the same amount of attention! Next rainy wkend I keep saying... but then I decide that alittle bit of rain ain't that bad and well...
;-)

[Mental Trousers]

Soooo... let me see, there is this website right, and it is full of girls yeah, girls who are into bikes yeah. Hmm, this might be worth looking into!

Get in line buddy.

[Rashika]

hmmm sometimes I wonder if the bike does kinda rule my life but I seem to be able to balance it with my love of dogs as well... but as for my property, er well, its been awhile since it got the same amount of attention! Next rainy wkend I keep saying... but then I decide that alittle bit of rain ain't that bad and well...
;-)

Oh yeah I cant vouch for the last part
and probably a bit for the first part as well

[_Gina_]

Awesome article Riff, and I take your point Paul, I have seen it and have been guilty of letting my love of riding and bikes overflow into asking when the female pillion is going to get her own bike.

I think women are accepted as motorcyclists in NZ. There will always be the element of people who are (dare I say it) old school. But you get that no matter what.

It is funny though, when I started Karting all the guys were cool as, congratulating me on having done really well when we pulled back into the pits after racing etc....As soon as I started winning - things changed, no more friendly banter back in the pits!!! You could almost sense their brains working overtime to try and figure out how they were going to kick my arse next time we raced.

Go chicrider! I will have to check the website out now.

Gg

[Riff Raff]

Go chicrider! I will have to check the website out now.

Gg

Yeah it's a good wee site - more of a focus on girls racing, dragging, stunting etc. They recently changed servers so the old forums got lost, but it's quickly building up again. Would be nice to have some more international riders join me on there.

[surfchick]

i never met any stranger who said it was wrong for me to be on a bike..get a few second glances but (but that might be cause i'm usually having a bad hair day...). I don't think there's any resistance out there at all. There's just not that many of us. Most people amble over for some banter...

I just can't wait till there's a sufficient tribe of us that there's proper girlie gear in stock in M/C shops and lots of it to choose from instead of bringing it in... it was only 10 years ago that in order to wear a hoodie or baggy jeans in the surf scene you had to nic your boyfriend's. NOT ANY MORE NOW WE GOT OUR OWN COOL STYLES.

[APPLE]

Riff?you could right a novel?well said,for me?i just like the way you chics look on a bike?....nice curves?

[sugilite:Me]

Chic riders have been around for quite some time, though there are certainly a lot more now days, and with the clothing manufacturers coming on board, it's all good!

One of the 1st woman bike riders I saw was riding a Kawasaki GPZ750, these were very big bikes (physically) and she was very petite, we came up to a set of lights I wondered how the heck she was going to get her feet on the ground.
This was her technique, she came to a stop, basicly let the bike fall on one side, would put her foot down and hold (save!) the bike up on an angle, then when the lights went to green, she pushed hard of said foot and as soon as the bike was upright she clutched it and was off. I saw her doing this 3 times through Upper Hutt on route to the taka's. Mondo RESPECT!

I agree pillions can learn quite alot about riding from the back.
I pillioned my then girlfriend/future wife for many 1000's of km's before I offered her a ride, so off to the deserted Westlake road, and I let her loose on the learners GSXR1100
I was on the back so it was a real role reversal, not to mention a real test of trust! She was a natural, by 4th gear, I was relaxed as on the back and we went for a nice 10 km jaunt. A few months later I got a lump sum payout from ACC (remember those?) and I bought her a brand spankers RG400.
I remember her 1st ride over the takas, we hooked up with another national level senior proddie racer on his GSXR1100 and his girlfriend who also raced on her RG500.
Well, she thrashed the racer even though she was on the smaller 400, and did not even raise a sweat doing it!
My chest swelled with pride, hell it was nearly as big as her chest, well OK, maybe not that big

[justsomeguy]

After posting this article I got to thinking (yep it did hurt), but hasn't the motorcycle scene come a long way in New Zealand in the last 2 years? Perhaps it's because KB has become a much bigger community, but I feel women are really accepted now as motorcyclists. It's very rare now to hear of a chic biker being ignored or put down by other bikers. How do other girls feel? Is it still happening out there and I'm just one of the lucky ones who happen to hang round with all the good barstards?

I've never seen any such behaviour. Any one who thinks that way is a stupid, anarchic fool who doesn't belong in the 20th century.:spudgrr:

[u4ea]

One thing you also need to consider.

Vicki is getting pissed off with ladies that do ride their own bikes giving her such a hard time about riding pillion with me. She has the means to buy a bike if she so desires and she knows I'd support her 100%. Just because she doesn't want to, doesn't make her some sort of inferior being for goodness sakes. I dunno, these days it's the women putting other women down I reckon.

paul,shes as much a motorcyclist as a rider in my veiw.i was a pillion for years before i got my first bike and in that time i was just as suseptable to the weather,animals running out in front of you,cars croossing centre line,false nuetrals etc. not to mention the trust involved!!the only difference being i wasnt in control.it is not for us to look down our noses because someone chooses not to take the reigns!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Goblin]

It's great to hear more women are getting into riding but if somebody is quite happy being pillion then I dont see a problem with that. What I get sick of is people saying they'd love to learn to ride and that's all they do...Talk about it! If you're going to do it...get on with it & stop telling everyone you'd love to learn.

I had to teach myself to ride because everyone told me I was too little and girls dont ride motorbikes. First time on the Honda 50 & I kicked it over a few times til it started...clunked into first....throttle open and HANG ON! My first experience with target fixation and I ended up in the only blackberry bush on the whole fence We were lucky to have paddocks out the back and I had to beg to be allowed a ride. Over time I got the hang of it & was doing the steepest part of the paddock easily.

Got my bike licence at 15 and tried to join a local "Club" They declined me saying they only wanted members with 500cc or more...since I only had a 400 I told them to stick their club. I do still ride with them and even help advertise their rallies etc. but I will never join on principal.

The only person to ever tell me I shouldn't have been on a bike was the old c*nt who knocked me off & nearly killed me. He plead not guilty to careless use causing injury so it dragged on for months. All I really wanted was for him to accept he was in the wrong and was sorry he hurt me & my bike. He went on & on how he'd been an ambo driver for 50 years and never had a crash or had a ticket so it must have been my fault for being on a bike. Eventually he was convicted & disqualified for 6 months and 150 hrs community service. I took him to small claims to try & get him to pay for a new lid & repairs to my leathers and he was ordered to pay $1000 at $5 per week Great help that was!

[SDU]

paul,shes as much a motorcyclist as a rider in my veiw.i was a pillion for years before i got my first bike and in that time i was just as suseptable to the weather,animals running out in front of you,cars croossing centre line,false nuetrals etc. not to mention the trust involved!!the only difference being i wasnt in control.it is not for us to look down our noses because someone chooses not to take the reigns!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto that!
Pillions are motorcyclists with as much lust & thrill for the ride as the riders.
I spent years as a Koala before getting around to having my own road bike. I miss the speed & skill of lemans as I have not reached those skill levels. Funny how I still trust his riding over mine any day.
I do admit I ask if a pillion is riding or thinking off learning to ride, but only as encouragement & interest not meant as a put down.
Cheers
SDU

[Paul in NZ]

Folks, it's no biggies for us. We are just two wierdies were lucky enough to find each other and still like each other. Obtaining a bike license does not change who you are or who you love, nor should it.

Vicki did not like bikes at all when we met but she knew I loved them. She came with me a few times and had an average experience. We had kids and a life to get on with so the nice stuff had to go to buy us a house for our little family. $75 Suzukis don't make great 2 up bikes and I just used it to go to work on. Free honda 50's are even more humble but I never stopped dreaming of getting back on another classic!

The last step in renovating the house was the new carpet. $5,000 worth! Gulp! I was workin' my arse off and had the cash and we were down to a choice of 2 colours! As we took the last load of crap to the dump we passed Bland bros in ChCh ant the Trophy was sitting out the front at $4,995... I just mentioned that once I had the bills under control I was going to get one just like that and gave her the whole 9 yards on them...

Vicki drove back from the dump (unusual) and turned into the Brand bros yard - "Go buy it - we can save for the carpet anytime". Well she insisted, no I mean really dragged me in there!

Thats why I get upset about people giving her a hard time. For the first time in my life, someone gave up something they really really wanted just for me, and something as selfish as a bloody stupid old motorbike! Thats love! Its not subservience or anything, it was a selfless gift! A gift she does not even fully understand (riding etc etc) but the act was a heroic one and I still get the shivers when I look at that bike!

So for the last 20 years, we have been riding together, more now that the kids are older. We still have the Trophy and it's not going anyplace!

We are not bikers, we are not obsessed by motorcycling. First and foremost we are friends and lovers and obsessed with each other, we just happen to like old bikes!

[Mental Trousers]

I had to teach myself to ride because everyone told me I was too little and girls dont ride motorbikes.

There's a couple of things that are different for women which, on the face of it, seem like disadvantages but end up being an advantage. Women aren't as strong physically and aren't as aggressive as men. But that works in their favour as they have to learn to control the bike using correct technique rather than muscling the bike around. Women also tend to work with the bike rather than try and control it like guys do.